


The One Where They Read

by Kedreeva



Series: The One Where... [2]
Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Fluff, Multi, Threegulls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 16:59:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5464115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kedreeva/pseuds/Kedreeva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duke reads to Nathan and Audrey at bedtime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where They Read

**Author's Note:**

  * For [serendipityxxi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipityxxi/gifts).



            They are three miles down the coast when Duke drops anchor and begins checking the boat over like a child he is putting to bed. Audrey sits at the stern, her feet kicked over the edge as she watches the starlight glitter on the surface of the rapidly-calming waters. At some point, Nathan wraps a blanket over her shoulders, but he doesn’t tell her to come in yet.

            After a bit she can smell the smooth, sweet scent of hot cocoa on the breeze, even stronger than the smell of windburned saltwater, and it is this that pulls her down from her perch to join the boys. Nathan meets her at the door with a mug that burns in her chilled hands, but she can feel Duke’s presence in the way it’s not actually too hot to touch. She smiles and doesn’t take a sip just yet, instead moving past Nathan and toward the neatly made bed.

            “It’s your turn,” she says to Duke as she puts one knee on the bed and then the other, kneel-walking across the covers without releasing her double-handed grip on the warm mug.

            Somewhere behind her, Duke makes a noise of agreement, and she turns to watch those long fingers tick over the spines of his book collection. Their book collection, if she’s honest, because she knows how many she’s added, and she knows Duke doesn’t read books about cowboys; that’s all Nathan.

            She can’t see which title he plucks from the shelf, but it’s a paperback with a well-worn cover. Duke comes to the edge of the bed and stands with his knees against it, reading the back of the book while they wait for Nathan to return from doing his final sweep of the vessel. Neither of them bother trying to stop him anymore; it’s not worth being woken in the middle of the night because  _I just need to check_.

            As soon as Nathan returns, he shuts the door behind himself and locks it, then closes the space between him and Duke. Audrey watches, a soft smile on her face while they kiss, briefly but sweetly. It is Nathan who both starts and ends the kiss; Audrey knows he has to, because if either of them leave it up to Duke, he’d never let them stop.

            They shed enough clothing to be comfortable before first Duke and then Nathan join her on the bed. It’s new, or at least  _newer_ , she supposes, more than big enough for all of them even when they aren’t crowding one another like they have no idea what personal space is anymore.

            Duke settles in half-sitting beside her and she wastes no time in curling up against him, her head pillowed on his belly as Nathan fluffs the covers up to blanket all of them. He doesn’t crowd Duke like Audrey does, but she feels it when he slips one arm over Duke’s hips. When they are arranged comfortably, Duke cracks open the book and silently skims the first page for a moment.

            Audrey closes her eyes when he begins to read, letting his soft voice fill in all the silences between the creaks and splashes of the  _Rouge_. Nathan’s fingers find hers after just a little while, and they fidget contentedly across Duke’s belly while he reads aloud. It’s some kind of mystery, a crime novella she hasn’t read or heard before, and her eyes are just starting to droop closed for real when she hears the first error.

            “They wouldn’t do that,” she grouses, voice already sticky with sleep.

            Duke pauses and looks down at her as Nathan hides his chuckle with a small cough. “It’s just a story,” Duke tells her, his smile melting the words around the edges.

            “It’s a wrong story,” she replies stubbornly. Some fuzzy part of her knows exactly what is wrong with the story, but she can’t seem to translate it into words, so she just buries her nose in Duke’s hip and sighs. “Carry on.”

            Duke waits for a moment but when no further protests arise, he continues reading. It’s several pages before Audrey raises her head, unable to let it go. “This is terrible,” she declares. “You do know no one would use their gun like that, right?”

            “Yes, Officer Parker,” Duke says with a smile. “They are bad, bad cops. You’re much better.”

            She pokes Duke in the side and he wriggles away from the jab with a protest, disrupting Nathan and she feels a little bad about that since Nathan has been silently suffering through the same inaccuracies. “Do you want me to pick a different book?” Duke asks her when they’ve settled again. “I’ve read this one before.”

            “I can’t believe you read crime dramas,” Nathan mumbles and even though the words are quiet Audrey can hear how scandalized he sounds.

            Duke sighs, the kind of noise he makes when he knows he is outnumbered, and snuggles a little farther down the pillows. “Just for that, you’re both going to suffer through three more chapters of this,” he informs them, ignoring their groans as he begins to read again. 

 


End file.
